PAT CAPUTO: It is no coincidence, fluke or mistake the Lions are reeling

FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2011 file photo, Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh prepares to play the Denver Broncos in an NFL football game, in Denver. Suh is expected to meet with reporters Wednesday after visiting with the commissioner to discuss how to channel his aggressiveness within the rules. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney, FIle)

The "disaster" label is too often put on sports teams when they have a subpar season.

As bad as it has been for the Lions the calendar year 2012, it could be worse.

But not that much.

The list of what has gone wrong for the Lions is long and well-documented. It includes everything from off-the-field transgressions to stunning on-the-field breakdowns to a bizarre blunder by a head coach, who, frankly, should know better.

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The Lions already have more losses this year than last. Precious few tiebreakers are in their favor.

We all know what has gone wrong.

This is what must happen for the Lions to get back on their collective feet and turn this season into a bump in the road rather than impetus for future failure.

- Play well the remainder of this season: These final five games aren't meaningless. In 2010, the Lions were in an awful position. They were destroyed on Thanksgiving Day by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. They played the Bears surprisingly tough on the first game back from the extended break, and then upset the Packers. It was the first of nine straight wins for the Lions, the salad days, if you will so far, for their current regime of head coach Jim Schwartz and general manager Martin Mayhew. That team was far more banged up physically than this one, too. Less talented, too.

- Tighten up the loose ends: This falls on Schwartz. The Lions not only make too many mistakes, but the timing of them is awful. Schwartz only compounded it on Thankgiving Day by throwing the red review flag, rendering a touchdown run by Houston that was going to be reviewed automatically anyway, unreviewable.

But Schwartz has earned a lot of slack in this town. He inherited the worst team in the history of the NFL and quickly made it a playoff team. He's not the first coach to have a bad season, and because this year has gone poorly, doesn't necessarily mean next year will, too. Five of the last 13 teams to win the Super Bowl came after .500 or worse records the season before under the that Super Bowl winning coach - Dick Vermeil (St. Louis), Brian Billick (Baltimore), Bill Belichick (New England), Tom Coughlin (New York Giants) and Sean Payton (New Orleans). They all were given much better situations at the start than Schwartz had with the Lions.

- The Suh factor: Late Pistons owner William Davidson said little publicly, but when he did, it was usually profound. When he fired Larry Brown after the Pistons went to the NBA Finals for a second straight year, he was very blunt, but it truly resonated: "Too much Larry Brown, not enough Pistons." I don't know if Lions' defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh intentionally kicked Texans' quarterback Matt Schaub in the groin Thanksgiving Day. I only know it became a focal point of endless discussion afterward. As a rookie, there was a buzz about Suh because of his remarkable production on the field. The buzz is still there, but it isn't because of his production anymore. He's played well, but has not stood out. Yet, he still generates headlines for the wrong reasons, and is doing all sorts of endorsements, which suggests a star quality that simply has not been there since his rookie season.

Yes. I am aware it is difficult to make plays as an inside tackle in the NFL, especially when drawing double teams. I am also aware you don't take players second overall in the draft, and they be given star status, unless they do make plays. Suh has 4.5 sacks and 16 solo tackles this season. He deflected one pass. Last season, he deflected a pass and blocked a field goal. He had four sacks and 26 solo tackles in 14 games and was suspended two games for stomping an opposing player - and then denied he did it. So he's good at gap control, and hurries the QB sometimes. That makes him just another solid NFL defensive tackle. Isn't he supposed to be a lot better than that?